Connecter for track circuits and train-control systems



Nov. 22, 1927. 1,649,923

E. K. POST CONNECTER FOR TRACK CIRCUITS AND TRAIN CONTROL SYSTEMS File Oct. 23, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1 I [a if I 15 B 16 0 J1 'VIIIIIAf E 1| 1 7 1 1 15 if" z %z- Nov. 22, 1927. 1,649,923

E. K. POST CONNECTER FOR TRACK CIRCUITS AND TRAIN CONTROL SYSTEMS ile 0ct- 23; 1925 2 Sheets-Shan Patented Nov. 22, 1927.

ERNEST K. POST, F COLLINGSWOOD, NEW JERSEY.

CONNECTER FOE TRACK CIRCUITS AND TRAIN-COIVTROL SYSTEMS- .Qpplicatlon filed October 28, 1925. Serial No. 64,333.

My invention relates to connecters for use primarily in signal circuits and train-control systems where a stranded wire is to be connected to any insulated wire of the circuit.

The purpose of my invention is to simplify the connections between stranded wire conductors and the wires of track circuits.

A further purpose is to improve the contact with the stranded wire in connection with such circuits as track circuits, to protect against pulling out of the stranded wire and to avoid nicking the stranded wire where it enters the terminal.

A further purpose is to reduce the number of parts where stranded wire terminals are to be connected with other wires of the circuits.

A further purpose is to reduce the number of removable contacts between a stranded wire terminal and the wire connecting with it.

A further purpose is to provide bolt con-- nection between a stranded wire and a terminal therefor, and to grip the circuit wire 25 with which engagement is to be made through operation of the bolt.

Further purposes will appear in the specification and in the claims.

I prefer to illustrate one form of my invention only, selecting a iorm which has proved to be practical, efiicient, inexpensive and reliable and which at the same time well illustrates the principles involved.

Figure 1 is an elevation, partly diagrammatic, showing one of my connecters within a track circuit.

Figure 2 is an enlarged view, partly sectional of a portion of the structure 0 Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a section of Figure 2 taken upon line 3-3.

Figure 4 is a perspective showing parts from Figure 2 in disassembled position.

Figure 5 is a. top plan view showing a second setting of my invention in a different track circuit.

Figure 6 is a section of Figure 5 upon line 6-6.

Figure 7 is an elevation partly in section and is a fragmentary section of a bolt and stranded wire connection.

In the drawings similar numerals indicate like parts.

Train-control systems are coming into use widely and track circuitsfor signalling have been used in large numbers for many years and in great variety by the railways.

Because of the great convenience of lug connection with the rails the use of p ugs is very general. The vibration of the rails is so excessive that the connections with these plugs are made to stranded conductors rather than to solid wires and these stranded conductors must in turn be connected to the circuit wires by which the source of energy, relay or other apparatus, is included in the circuit.

The circuit wires so usually comprise in-- sulated solid conductors that they will be treated herein as if this were always so. However a stranded conductor could also be gri ped well by my construction and, if there be no insulation on the circuit wires the counterbores for the insulation would not be needed. Suitable means would then be provided against breakage of-the conductor at the edge of the connecter.

My invention has to do wholly with the connection between the stranded conductors and the circuit wires in whatever setting otherwise and whatever the source of energy, relay or other apparatus which is to be 1ncluded in the circuit.

In Figure 1 the circuit extends from a rail through the plug 10 driven into a hole in the rail, a stranded conductor 11, connecter 12, circuit wire 13, insulated zit-14, relay 15 and wire 16 back through a corresponding connecter, stranded conductor and plug to another rail ,not shown.

In Figure '5" an insulated rail joint is shown at 17. Rails 18 are broken away to show the webs 19 and plugs 20, with or without clips 21. Stranded wires 22 are permanently united at one end each to the plugs and at the other ends 23 are united to connecters 12 from which conductors 24 extend to battery or other source of energy 25 and baclk by corresponding connection to another rai Parts of the stranded wires, the connecters and the circuit wires are carried in a conduit 26.

I have found that the stranded wire, which is ordinarily of steel. may be welded at its end to the end 27 of a bolt 28. This bolt fits within the connecter 12, forcing forwardly the clutch comprising split jaws 29 into the converging tapered opening 30 so as to secure pressure contact and" good gripping engagement between these parts and the end 31 wire 13.

This avoids reliance upon contact with the stranded iron wire by pressure merely, as has hitherto been thought to be necessary and makes it possible to use this bolt to tighten a wedge-gripping device upon the track circuit wlre, greatly reducing the electrical resistance of the connection, simplifying the parts and obtaining a more secure and permanent grip.

The connecter 12 is not only bored for the tapered opening 30 but is counterbored at 32 and 33 at opposite ends, one of the counterbores being threaded to receive the bolt 28 and that at the other end accommodating the insulation 14 surroundin conductor 13. The conductor 13 is stripped of insulation sufficiently to permit clamping engagement with it.

Within the tapered opening 30 fit the tapered clutch jaws 29 which are most desirab y made in a single piece in order to avoid trouble from slipping of the parts or loss of the parts and to cheapen the manufacture. The jaws surround a central opening 34 within which the end 31 of the conductor 13 is intended to fit, the conductor being sufficiently near the diameter of the opening to be gripped firmly by the jaws when the clutch member is forced into the opening by relative turning of bolt and connecter.

When the clutch is made in a single piece it is slitted at 35 to allow circumferential com ression for the purpose of gripping the con uctor.

In operation, the conductor is stripped of its insulation at one end sufliciently to permit the end of the conductor to pass into the central opening of the clutch which is put in from the left in Figure 2. Either the bolt or the connecter is turned, one with respect to the other, until the clutch is firmly gripped against the conductor end 31 on the inside and against the wall of the tapered opening 30 on the outside. The re sistance of the clutch member causes the outwardly facing surfaces of the bolt thread to engage tightly against the inwardly facing sur aces of the threads within the connecter, giving a large surface there for electrical contact, preventing access of moisture and consequently preventing rust between the surfaces.

The connecter is given a noncircular section at 38 togfacilitate the relative turning of the connecter and bolt.

It will be evident that my disclosure will suggest to those skilled in the art other forms and places in which my invention may be used with or without copyin the form of the invention illustrated and it is, therefore, my purpose to cover all such forms and uses as come within the reasonable spirit and scope of m invention.

Having thus escribed my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: V

1. In a signal-circuit or train-control system. a stranded wire, a threaded terminal permanently attached to it, a clutch connecter having a threaded openin within which the terminal fits to tighten t e clutch and a conductor adapted to fit within and be clamped by the clutch. V

2. In a signal circuit or train-control system, a stranded wire, a bolt ermanently united thereto, a connecter bo y having a tapered bore and-a counterbore threaded to receive the bolt, a clutch member fitting within the tapered bore adapted to be tightened therein by the bolt and a conductor adapted to fit into and to be gripped by the clutch member.

3. In a signal circuit or train-control systern, a stranded wire, a plug permanentl united to one end of the wire and a ho t permanently united to the other end thereof, a connecter body having a tapered bore, a threaded counterbore adapted to receive the bolt and a second counterbore at the op posite end from the first counterbore, a clutch member fitting within the tapered bore and adapted to be tightened by the bolt and an insulated conductor whose insulation is adapted to fit within the second counterbore and whose wire is adapted tofit into and be gripped by the clutch member.

4. In a device of the character stated for joining a stranded cable and a single conductor, the combination of a bolt to which the cable is permanently united by fusion, a connecter having a ta ered bore and, adjacent its larger end a t readed counterbore into which the boltfits, and a clamping device fitting within the tapered .bore adapted to engage the sin 1e conductorand to be gripped a ainst it %y the pressure of the bolt, where y the bolt and clamping member form parts of the electric connection between the stranded wire and the single conductor.

5. In a device of the character stated for electrically uniting a stranded wire and a single conductor, a connecter bod havin an internal intermediate tapered bore an adjoining counterbores, one at each end, the one at the smaller end of the bore protecting the insulation of the single conductor and the other. being threaded, a clamping device fitting .within the'tapered bore and adapted to clamp the single conductor and a bolt permanently united to the stranded conductor and fitting the threads of the counterbore .to set the clamping member against the single conductor'bypressure longitudinally against the clamping member.

' ERNEST K. POST. 

